Top Pattern: Blend of Papercut Rise and Fall Turtleneck and Thread Theory’s Strathcona Henley. I posted more details on the modifications here. In this version, I shortened and flared the sleeves. I also shortened the body and added a waistband.

Here is another little scrapbust that I finished up the other day. It’s so very satisfying to use up the pretty little pieces leftover from past projects. It seems that I like blue a lot.

You’ve seen the striped linen before here. The gingham here. And I made the plaid up as a short sleeve button up for my husband years ago!

The pattern I used is from a Japanese Pattern Book. The ISBN is 978-4-579-11300-2. I sewed up style L in size 13. I found the sizing to be a little larger in this style than I expected. The neckline is especially wide. I can make a style like this work in linen though.

I’ve had this lovely Lisa Ho silk/cotton (from The Fabric Store) sitting in my stash for more than five years. There was only a little bit left, but I finally found the perfect project for it.

I paired it with a remnant of silk satin to make the prettiest Mito Cami ever! The pattern is by Papercut Patterns. It’s a lovely, easy fitting cami and dress design. I can picture myself making up the dress version to slip over a swimsuit in Summer.

I didn’t have the strap hardware on hand to make my straps adjustable so I simply cut and stitched the desired length in place to suit me. I sewed up a size Small, which reflected my bust measurement pretty much spot on. I didn’t have to deal with my shoulders because of the strappy design.

I’m on a bit of a scrapbusting mission right now. My fabric stash only consists of two storage containers, but I’d really love to get it down to one. I don’t hoard many fabrics. I generally only purchase fabrics with a project in mind. However, my fabric purchasing discipline is very possibly skewed by the fact that I don’t live near a bricks and mortar fabric store. I probably shouldn’t be too smug…

I have a few precious fabrics that I’m happy to save. I also have a bunch of remnants that I’ve carted across the globe with me. I recently pulled out all those small lengths and made little piles around my cutting table, hopefully to inspire me to use them up! Five years in stash is way too long. I’m hoping that if I keep them in sight, I’ll find projects for them over the next five months.

Miss Nine had her eye on a few fabrics I’d sewn up for myself recently. She desperately wanted me to use some of my leftover leopard print jaquard to make something for her.

I didn’t have enough left for the entire pinafore, but I was able to mix and match with a bit of cotton sateen. The Mini Big Cat cotton and leopard print jacquard is from The Fabric Store. This is something similar to the jacquard. The green, cotton sateen is a very old remnant from my stash.

I used the same Japanese Pattern Book for her pinafore as I did for her Mini Big Cat top. The book is called A Sunny Spot from the Heart Warming Life Series. I sewed the pinafore one size smaller than the top. I made the top first so I had a better idea on fit for the pinafore. The fit of the top is acceptable. The pinafore fits her perfectly. She’s chuffed with the whole look. Now we just need these snow days to end so the kiddos can go back to school and I can get some more work done!

It’s been a long time since I’ve made a pattern from a Japanese Pattern Book. I used to love using Japanese patterns many years ago, especially when my girls were tiny.

I made this top using the cover photo of this book. It doesn’t have an English title but I can give you ISBN978-4-579-11649-2.

I made my top up in the largest size available in the book. My chest measurement is 37 inches. I figured, since I couldn’t make heads or tails of any measurements chart, I couldn’t do too badly by choosing the largest size. This top is supposed to be roomy and oversized. It’s hard to say if mine is a little “extra” through the body in this respect. I feel like the shoulders fit where they should.

The design is pretty simple. It’s a raglan style with wide sleeves and a gathered neckline. I was drawn to this top because of the pretty collar. The neckline incorporates a drawstring to gather the neck area. It can be gathered as loose or tight as you wish. The bow can also be sewn so that it is tied at the back if preferred.

The style of this top works beautifully in linen. I feel like all of the patterns in this book would suit linen. My linen is from The Fabric Store. I used a pinstriped green linen for the bulk of the top and topped up the sleeves with a little duck egg blue. The stripes I used aren’t available online anymore, but I think this option would be also amazing.

I know it isn’t really the right season to be making a top like this, but I still love it. It’s the kind of top I can see myself wearing every day in Summer.